memory
Enable an AI agent to recognise an electronic memory device, assess its compatibility and data-retention state, and determine which access, testing, replacement or disposal actions are appropriate.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 19 findings · 29 questions
Memory identity and boundary Establishes what physical memory the entry represents and which functions belong to that memory.
Physical memory referent
Identifies the hardware boundary without promoting a product model or individual unit into a separate kind.
Component, module or region
Record whether the referent is a discrete memory device, an assembly of devices or memory embedded within another component.
- What physical boundary does the registered memory kind include, and where does the containing host begin? boundary
- Which markings, identification records or manufacturer documents establish the implementation of a particular device? provenance
Storage mechanism
Separates the physical storage technology from the role assigned by a host.
Technology and system role
Record the documented memory technology independently of uses such as working memory, firmware storage or buffering.
- What technology retains the encoded state, and what evidence identifies it? definition
- Which observed behaviours belong to the memory itself, and which are supplied by a controller or host? boundary
Capacity and memory operations Describes how stored locations are organised, addressed and modified.
Addressable organisation
Connects nominal storage capacity to the locations and regions exposed through the interface.
Capacity map and reservations
Record address units, word width, banks and reserved regions where these affect usable capacity or access.
- How many locations are exposed, how many bits does each contain, and what capacity convention is used? measurement
- Which regions are reserved, inaccessible or used for integrity metadata rather than caller data? boundary
Read, write and erase
Records supported operations and their smallest affected regions.
Modification rules
Determine whether updates are supported, require prior erasure or can irreversibly change stored state.
- What are the minimum read, write, program and erase units for each applicable region? measurement
- What sequence can perform the requested update, and which neighbouring contents must first be preserved? action
Electrical access and power Captures the conditions under which the memory can be connected, accessed and placed into power states.
Interface and timing
Relates physical connections and signalling to valid memory transactions.
Host access compatibility
Record pinout, signalling levels, protocol revision and timing requirements for the actual configuration.
- Which interface specification and manufacturer documentation define compatible signalling and pin assignments? provenance
- What latency, transfer-rate and operation-completion limits apply under the intended configuration? measurement
Power and retention states
Connects supply states, refresh or backup dependencies and transitions to data preservation.
Content-preserving power transitions
Record which power states preserve data and what supporting activity or supply each requires.
- Which supply rails, refresh activity or backup source are required to retain contents in each supported state? definition
- What must complete before entering standby, resetting the interface or removing power? action
Retention, endurance and integrity Organises evidence about whether stored values remain retrievable and how use affects reliability.
Retention and wear envelope
Records documented persistence and modification limits together with their qualifying conditions.
Conditional retention and endurance
Associate retention and endurance claims with technology, temperature, usage history and the region to which they apply.
- What retention duration and endurance limits are documented, and under which temperature and usage conditions? measurement
- What evidence about this unit's modification history or exposure supports a remaining-use judgment? provenance
Error observation and response
Distinguishes raw storage behaviour from errors detected, corrected or hidden by supporting mechanisms.
Integrity evidence and test coverage
Record diagnostic coverage, observed errors and the location of any correction mechanism before judging health.
- Which errors can the device or host detect and correct, and which error observations are exposed to the agent? boundary
- Which test can investigate the suspected fault, and will it overwrite contents or consume modification endurance? action
Protection and service actions Defines memory-specific restrictions and procedures for modification, removal and end of service.
Protected and irreversible states
Identifies region-level restrictions and configuration changes that may permanently constrain use.
Access locks and one-time changes
Record read, write and erase protection, including whether locks or programming operations can be reversed.
- Which regions or operations are protected, and how is the current protection state established? measurement
- Would the proposed command set a permanent lock, consume one-time programmability or prevent later recovery? action
Removal and data clearance
Relates physical service procedures to preservation or deliberate elimination of retained contents.
Service and sanitisation evidence
Record handling requirements, replacement constraints and evidence that a clearing procedure reaches the intended storage regions.
- What power isolation, electrostatic handling and data-preservation steps does the documented removal or replacement procedure require? action
- Which documented clearing or sanitisation method applies, and what evidence establishes its coverage of inaccessible or remapped regions? provenance
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of memory this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- noun.artifact
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.OBJ
- Tags
- artifactdevice
- Facets: substance
- material
- Facets: origin
- manufactured
- Facets: agency
- inert
- Facets: mobility
- portable
- Facets: scale
- handheld
- Facets: affordances
- graspable, operable
- Other names and narrower kinds
- erasable programmable read-only memory, EPROM, flash memory, magnetic bubble memory, magnetic core memory, core memory, computer memory, storage, computer storage, store, memory board, non-volatile storage
What it is Filled
An electronic memory device is a physical electronic component that stores encoded information in distinguishable internal states and permits that information to be retrieved, with writing, erasing and retention characteristics determined by its technology.
In scope
- Memory technology, physical implementation and boundary between component, module and integrated memory region
- Addressable capacity, organisation and supported read, write and erase operations
- Electrical interface, power requirements and access timing
- Volatility, retention, endurance and observable data-integrity condition
- Memory-specific protection, diagnostics, handling and end-of-service actions
Out of scope
- Human memory, organisational memory and abstract information retention
- The meaning, ownership and application-level structure of stored content
- Software address spaces, allocation policies and virtual-memory management
- Host processors, motherboards and complete computing systems
- Complete storage appliances and their file-system or service-level behaviour
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise an electronic memory device, assess its compatibility and data-retention state, and determine which access, testing, replacement or disposal actions are appropriate.
Distinguishing features Filled
- The referent is physical electronic hardware with states used to retain encoded data, rather than a software memory allocation or a remembered experience.
- The device provides a defined means of retrieving stored data; merely propagating a signal does not establish a memory function.
- A read-only implementation can qualify: rewriting during normal use is not a required identifying feature.
- Loss of contents when power is removed distinguishes a retention behaviour, rather than determining whether the device qualifies as memory.
- For a controller-equipped storage product, identify whether the referent is its memory component or the complete managed storage device before applying this model.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Read or copy data from a memory device that belongs to someone else without consent or lawful authority.
- Discard or resell a memory device without securely erasing personal data.
- Overwrite or erase data that has not been confirmed as backed up or unwanted.
- Install memory in a powered system or without antistatic precautions.
Only with a human decision
- Erasing or destroying a device that may hold evidence or the only copy of data.
- Recovering data from a device for someone other than its owner.
May
- Read, test and report the capacity, health and type of memory devices it is authorized to manage.
- Securely erase memory devices at the owner's request before reuse or disposal.
Moral aspects Filled
- Memory devices hold private and sensitive information; access to them is access to people's data.
- Electronic waste harms the environment if not recycled.
Who is affected
- Owners of stored data
- People whose data is stored
- Recycling workers
Owners Filled
Steward
The person or organization that owns the device; the data controller answers for personal data on it.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- oewn-03750331-n - registry parent class
- oewn-03498434-n - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.memory-artifact
- Open English WordNet: oewn-03749767-n
Direct properties required Filled
- Memory technology: Documented technology, such as SRAM, DRAM, ROM, EEPROM or flash; unknown
- Physical implementation: Discrete device; memory module; embedded memory region; other documented implementation
- Capacity and organisation: bits or bytes, with explicit prefixes; addressable locations × bits per location; exposed and reserved capacity distinguished
- Power-loss retention: Volatile; nonvolatile; dependent on backup supply; unknown, with operating conditions
- Access interface: Named electrical interface or protocol, revision, pinout and compatible host relationship
- Access and modification granularity: bits or bytes per read, write, program and erase unit, where applicable
- Access performance: Read latency in ns or µs; write or program duration in ns, µs or ms; transfer rate in bit/s or byte/s, with workload and configuration
- Supply requirements: V and A for each required rail and operating state; sequencing constraints recorded separately
- Retention and endurance limits: Retention duration in hours or years under stated conditions; write or program/erase cycles where specified
- Observed integrity condition: Untested; no errors detected by stated test; corrected errors observed; uncorrectable errors observed; inaccessible
- Access protection state: Documented read, write or erase restrictions by region; lock reversibility; unknown
Recognition required Filled
- Chips on a circuit board, such as a memory module with a row of gold contacts, or a soldered chip with a part marking.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Identify the device technology and physical boundary from markings, documentation and supported identification reads.
- Check host, pinout, supply and timing compatibility before connection or configuration.
- Read or test selected regions using procedures that account for content preservation and test coverage.
- Write, program or erase supported regions after checking protection, granularity and endurance implications.
- Assess retention and integrity evidence to decide whether continued use, data recovery or replacement is appropriate.
- Select a documented clearing, sanitisation or disposal procedure appropriate to the memory technology and accessible regions.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Static discharge and heat can damage memory and corrupt data.
- Wear and charge loss can silently lose stored data.
- Incompletely erased devices can leak personal data.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- JESD79, DDR SDRAM Standard, JEDEC Solid State Technology Association.
Context of use required Filled
- Electronic memory devices occur in computers, controllers, instruments and other equipment that stores digital information.
- They hold working data, program instructions or retained settings according to their storage technology.
- Equipment design and maintenance assess memory capacity, electrical compatibility and retention requirements when selecting or replacing these components.
Sources Filled
- Open English WordNet 2024, synset oewn-03749767-n - sense and gloss of the concept
- Wiktionary: memory - word senses and usage
Open questions
- Does the existing catalogue already contain a world model covering this electronic-memory concept, requiring a registry link instead of a separate publication?
- Where does the registry draw the boundary between electronic memory devices, embedded memory regions and complete controller-managed storage devices?
- Which primary technology and manufacturer sources should establish representative retention, endurance, timing and capacity ranges without implying universal limits?
- Which interface, qualification, handling and sanitisation standards apply to each included implementation, and which issuing bodies and revisions govern them?
- Which integrity and wear indicators are actually observable across the included technologies, and where must unit condition remain unknown?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-memory-artifact/spec.json